#halfway through

Andy and Jules both have to take the subway on their birthday, Andy because Cassidy has a fever, and Jules because the Audi has broken down. Jules is tasked with finding her girlfriend another car, which is a bit challenging, and:

So this, plus the birthday present article is really giving Jules some food for thought.

Just in time for…well, it’s not a god in a machine, it’s a boss in an elevator car. I actually don’t mind this solution to our boss-employee problem, especially since it makes sense narratively as the chairman’s first round attack on Miranda/Vivian. And while Jules and Vivian would have (probably) addressed it definitively in a halfway-timely fashion, Andy and Miranda weren’t really making much progress there.

So, Irv and Mark join our young heroines in the elevator, compliments them, and then fires them, saying (among other things):

Now, it’s “toy” in the fic and “accessory” in the novel. I don’t think there’s ever any other indication that Irv suspects they’re together (though I may be wrong). It’s kind of a weird word to use if you’re not implying “sex toy.” I dunno. I think accessory works better.

The next scene goes basically the same: she tells Ellie/Allie and Nigel/Simon, bursts into tears and he takes her to his office and offers her a job. It’s a men’s magazine (GQ, not Playboy) in the fic and a sort of online boutique for used designer clothes in the novel. I understand the change and it has always worked for me, but this is another thing that when compared immediately and side-by-side doesn’t really work as well for me, because it leans on Simon’s publishing contacts. Oh well. It’s fine. And Jules is into fashion, so, it’s fine.

Vivian and Miranda barge in, and Jules and Andy end up heading home, putting on comfy clothes, and cracking open some nine am wine.

Andy thinks that Miranda would have to really beg Irv to get her (Andy’s) job back. Andy notes that she wouldn’t want that to happen, but that there’s basically no chance that Miranda would do it anyway. Then she thinks that it’s probably better this way, “more moral,” but reflects that the relationship hasn’t ever felt unequal to her until now, when she’s reminded that she has basically zero professional power. Then she wonders what Miranda will do if she loses her job (not hang out with the baby all day) and recalls Miranda saying “I see a great deal of myself in you.”

Jules has already had reservations about sleeping with the boss, so she just watches a bit of TV and orders lunch.

Miranda and Vivian call and say they’ll come over that evening, so Andy and Jules have to clean. Andy also packs up all the clothes she’s borrowed from Runway. Jules has an interesting revelation while fantasizing about Vivian in the shower:

Frankly I think screaming a bit and throwing something is a perfectly reasonable reaction to realizing you’re in love with Vivian Carlisle.

Miranda arrives fifteen minutes late and Vivian one minute early. Miranda tells Andy to take the job, that she’s not coming back to Runway. They chat a bit about Nigel (same as in the book) and Miranda notes that she has a plan, re: Irv:

Which I just think is a nice look at Miranda being simultaneously terrifying and ambitious and affectionate. Soon after, regarding the Roy waiting downstairs:

And THEN Miranda makes a crack about how Andy can relax a little now that she’s not at Runway but still needs to watch her figure. Miranda’s on a roll, which I think makes Vivian look extra sweet in the book version.

Vivian offers to get Jules’s job back for her:

Jules decides not to go back (also noting that if Vivian did beg for Jules’s job it would raise some red flags). Vivian seems hurt, or disappointed, despite her being the one to point out the potential issues with boss/employee dating.

Just as in the fic, she talks about her conversation with Simon, who said it’s time the older woman did something for the younger. Now, in the fic, Miranda just says:

While Vivian says:

I think the “you don’t make it easy” vs “you won’t let me” is an important change and sort of indicates that Vivian accepts Jules having more power in the relationship than Andy does. I also just think Vivian is very sweet here. She then has Jules text Ben that she won’t be needing a ride home, and they both realize that Ben’s going to connect the dots that they’re together. Miranda, on the other hand, heads home with Roy.

Andy gets a phone call from her parents and they basically run Miranda down and suggest that Andy can find a boyfriend at her new job. Poor Andy.

In the last scene of the novel, Jules and Vivian take a sunrise walk to Domino Park, where earlier in the novel Jules saw the lesbian couple who inspired her article. It’s a very sweet scene. They decide to wait to come out and Vivian notes that it’s not going to be easy, but Jules says she’s ready and they kiss.